"If you build it, they will come" is a phrase most closely associated with the sport of baseball, and specifically the movie Field of Dreams. But that phrase is also appropriate when discussing the ever-growing success of football's Super Bowl coming up this weekend.
In good economies and bad, the total amount of advertising spending has had a steady increase year after year. This year will prove to be no different. The NFL has stumbled on an event, #49 this Sunday when New England plays Seattle, that is amazing thing to watch unfold.
The biggest audience, the best creative and the tension of an event combines into a marketers dream. The beauty of the Super Bowl is that the event means different things to different people. For me, the event is the game even if I am an advertising and marketing professional. But for many people, probably the majority that tune in each year, the event is the advertising and creativity on display.
The Wall Street Journal has compiled some great insight on the marketing associated with the Super Bowl. This year, a :30 spot in the game went for $4.5 million dollars. The mix of advertisers has changed over the years, including less automotive this year. There is no shortage of takers for the limited inventory to reach 100 million Americans. Click here to read the Wall Street Journal article written by Steven Perlbert and Willa Plank.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Friday, January 16, 2015
Can American consumers not handle an emotional advertising message?
If you go looking for trouble, eventually you are going to find it. This week, people on that quest has focused on McDonald's and a TV ad that they ran last weekend during the NFL games and on the Golden Globes. I was watching the football games last week and saw the ad as it ran. I had a reaction as well, but much different than those seeking controversy.
Click here to view and decide for yourself!
The TV spot in question showed a montage of McDonald's restaurant message signs, and the messages that they have conveyed over the years with a children's choir singing "Carry On" in the background. Most were very personal and touching, but a few placed focus on national tragedies. "We Remember 9-11" and "Boston Strong" were two that people found offensive.
Not only did I not find it offensive, I found it to be a moving tribute. I recall thinking at the time that this was McDonald's 2015 version of the classic Coke commercial "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing". Very positive, and a great branding commercial.
American's are funny about TV commercials. Perhaps we want to be moved to buy something but do not want to be moved emotionally. Is that possible? Sexual content is commonplace in commercials in Europe and Australia, but largely taboo in the U.S. And now a simple image within a McDonald's commercial is too much for some.
The AP's Candice Choi did an article about the reaction. You can get more details at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mcdonalds-walks-fine-line-signs-170028992.html
Click here to view and decide for yourself!
The TV spot in question showed a montage of McDonald's restaurant message signs, and the messages that they have conveyed over the years with a children's choir singing "Carry On" in the background. Most were very personal and touching, but a few placed focus on national tragedies. "We Remember 9-11" and "Boston Strong" were two that people found offensive.
Not only did I not find it offensive, I found it to be a moving tribute. I recall thinking at the time that this was McDonald's 2015 version of the classic Coke commercial "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing". Very positive, and a great branding commercial.
American's are funny about TV commercials. Perhaps we want to be moved to buy something but do not want to be moved emotionally. Is that possible? Sexual content is commonplace in commercials in Europe and Australia, but largely taboo in the U.S. And now a simple image within a McDonald's commercial is too much for some.
The AP's Candice Choi did an article about the reaction. You can get more details at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mcdonalds-walks-fine-line-signs-170028992.html
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Newspaper protects the First Admendment and scores a marketing win at the same time
To say that it is tough to publish a newspapers these days is a big understatement. The pressure comes from many different angles: owners/stockholders who want to make more money, digital competitors trying to take audience and diminished use of traditional print by consumers just to name a few.
Add in a crack-pot politician threatening to go against the First Admendment of the Constitution, and you've got the situation being faced by the Frederick News-Press in Frederick, Maryland. Local councilman Kirby Delauter decided recently to threaten court action if the local newspaper printed his name. Nevermind the Constitution which protects the press or any other rational thought, Delauter felt he was above the Bill of Rights.
Delauter has since apologized for threatening the reporter and the newspaper. But the lesson learned is in the reaction that the newspaper had to the initial issue. Their editorial, which they actually released online prior to print, was intended to achieve two goals; both of which they knocked out of the park in my opinion.
First, they wanted to send a message to Delauter, and any other hack politician for that matter, that the Constitution still matters, and the local newspaper still matters. My guess is this stand has been a huge win for the News-Press in their local marketplace. Like the politician or not, people tend to rally around when an official tries to bully people, or institutions in this case.
Also, this has been a huge plus for the newspaper with marketing. I'm in Indiana blogging about this, and found out about this situation from a local TV station. The web traffic they have been able to harness from this on some level has to mean money. More than money is the opportunity to show staffers and advertisers the power of their digital platform.
To truly appreciate the creativity put into the situation, you need to read the official editorial published about four days ago. You can read it on the Frederick News-Press website, at: http://m.fredericknewspost.com/news/politics_and_government/kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter/article_da85d6f4-fa3c-524f-bbf6-8e5ddc0d1c0a.html?mode=jqm
It is a great editorial with some hidden jabs in it. For instance, if you take the first letter of each paragraph they form the name of the politician, Kirby Delauter.
Brilliantly done. Kudos.
Add in a crack-pot politician threatening to go against the First Admendment of the Constitution, and you've got the situation being faced by the Frederick News-Press in Frederick, Maryland. Local councilman Kirby Delauter decided recently to threaten court action if the local newspaper printed his name. Nevermind the Constitution which protects the press or any other rational thought, Delauter felt he was above the Bill of Rights.
Delauter has since apologized for threatening the reporter and the newspaper. But the lesson learned is in the reaction that the newspaper had to the initial issue. Their editorial, which they actually released online prior to print, was intended to achieve two goals; both of which they knocked out of the park in my opinion.
First, they wanted to send a message to Delauter, and any other hack politician for that matter, that the Constitution still matters, and the local newspaper still matters. My guess is this stand has been a huge win for the News-Press in their local marketplace. Like the politician or not, people tend to rally around when an official tries to bully people, or institutions in this case.
Also, this has been a huge plus for the newspaper with marketing. I'm in Indiana blogging about this, and found out about this situation from a local TV station. The web traffic they have been able to harness from this on some level has to mean money. More than money is the opportunity to show staffers and advertisers the power of their digital platform.
To truly appreciate the creativity put into the situation, you need to read the official editorial published about four days ago. You can read it on the Frederick News-Press website, at: http://m.fredericknewspost.com/news/politics_and_government/kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter/article_da85d6f4-fa3c-524f-bbf6-8e5ddc0d1c0a.html?mode=jqm
It is a great editorial with some hidden jabs in it. For instance, if you take the first letter of each paragraph they form the name of the politician, Kirby Delauter.
Brilliantly done. Kudos.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Smarter retailing by businesses to target consumers without discounting too much in advertising messages
January 1 is always a highly optimistic day for all of us. A clean slate of a year in front of us, and hopefully perspective on the past year. Here's to a happy and prosperous New Year for us all.
Looking ahead to 2015 for marketing and advertising, one of the big trends to come will be the use of data to target advertising messages even more than we've seen in the recent past. This past holiday shopping season has several examples in it which I believe are big signs for the future.
The best example is Kohl's, at least in my household. It seems like we get Kohl's offers weekly through direct mail, in addition to their inserts in the daily newspaper. The direct mail often has the peal away sticker with a discount coupon. The longer you go between making purchases on your Kohl's credit card, the larger that discount sticker; topping out at 30% off I believe. While I don't have inside information on how Kohl's does their mailing and discount patterns, it seems obvious to me that they have tied in their marketing database with their credit card database, taking consumer spending habits and blending them with discount offers.
Kohl's is certainly not alone.
The Wall Street Journal's Shelly Banjo had a great article on how retailers are targeting offers to consumers to not only lure shoppers, but to also increase profit margins, average sale and more. The Wall Street Journal article is behind a paywall, but you can read it on Yahoo Finance.
Smart retailing will get more people in the store, but will also keep average sales higher since they are not offering deep discounts to consumers that are willing to pay full retail price. From the article:
A fifth of online shoppers are considered true “discount junkies,” people who make purchases only when plied with discounts, according to new data from AgilOne Inc., which works with 150 retailers to analyze customers’ purchases and predict their behavior. About 15% of shoppers generally pay full price for items and don’t bother searching for sales.
It is hard to predict what 2015 will have in store for us. I do believe retailing will continue to see difficulties, despite a solid retailing holiday season. As old-line retailers like Sears / K-Mart struggle to find black ink on their ledgers, smart retailing like described in this article might be a way to increase sales, traffic and profitability.
Looking ahead to 2015 for marketing and advertising, one of the big trends to come will be the use of data to target advertising messages even more than we've seen in the recent past. This past holiday shopping season has several examples in it which I believe are big signs for the future.
The best example is Kohl's, at least in my household. It seems like we get Kohl's offers weekly through direct mail, in addition to their inserts in the daily newspaper. The direct mail often has the peal away sticker with a discount coupon. The longer you go between making purchases on your Kohl's credit card, the larger that discount sticker; topping out at 30% off I believe. While I don't have inside information on how Kohl's does their mailing and discount patterns, it seems obvious to me that they have tied in their marketing database with their credit card database, taking consumer spending habits and blending them with discount offers.
Kohl's is certainly not alone.
The Wall Street Journal's Shelly Banjo had a great article on how retailers are targeting offers to consumers to not only lure shoppers, but to also increase profit margins, average sale and more. The Wall Street Journal article is behind a paywall, but you can read it on Yahoo Finance.
Smart retailing will get more people in the store, but will also keep average sales higher since they are not offering deep discounts to consumers that are willing to pay full retail price. From the article:
A fifth of online shoppers are considered true “discount junkies,” people who make purchases only when plied with discounts, according to new data from AgilOne Inc., which works with 150 retailers to analyze customers’ purchases and predict their behavior. About 15% of shoppers generally pay full price for items and don’t bother searching for sales.
It is hard to predict what 2015 will have in store for us. I do believe retailing will continue to see difficulties, despite a solid retailing holiday season. As old-line retailers like Sears / K-Mart struggle to find black ink on their ledgers, smart retailing like described in this article might be a way to increase sales, traffic and profitability.
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